Electrical connectors including a plurality of electrical contacts retained within an insulating housing are well known in the prior art. It is quite common to assemble in each insulating housing a combination of both male contacts and female contacts in a predetermined array or pattern so that the connector can only be connected with a second connector having a mating or complimentary array of male and female contacts. This assures that a pair of electrical connectors are not improperly plugged together.
In the past it has been common to establish multiple pin and receptacle connections by utilizing molded plugs. These plugs, although still in use, have proven to be quite expensive to make and relatively heavy. Moreover, the molded housing cannot be easily separated or opened to permit the replacement or repair of contacts therein.
An improvement on the molded plug has been made, wherein a housing formed from a pair of identical mating sections are employed to hold a plurality of electrical contacts in place. In one such connector, manufactured by Dill Products, Inc. of Norristown, Pennsylvania, the housing sections include cammed tabs and slots for securing the housing sections together. Outer surfaces of the housing sections are provided with axially spaced-apart confronting surfaces to permit the panel mounting of the connector, such as is desired for use in an automobile or other vehicle.
The arrangement of cammed tabs and slots, as is provided for in the Dill connector, does not provide a very secure arrangement between the two halves of the housing. Therefore, unless the housing is maintained in its assembled condition by mounting the connector within a panel, there is a possibility that the housing sections could become separated during handling and/or use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,956,409, issued to Benander, discloses a connector housing having opposed, channeled plastic body members 10 and 11, which are held together by opposed, generally C-shaped clips 30 and 31. The connector disclosed in the Benander '409 patent is not of the type which mounts the electrical contacts one over the other, and is not designed for use in a panel mounted system.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,292, issued to Forney, Jr., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,340, issued to Dean, disclose clip-type members positioned about the housing of a connector and including retaining members for permitting the connectors to be mounted on other devices. In the Forney, Jr. device the clip member is shown at 14 in FIG. 1, and in the Dean device the clip members are shown at 98 and 98a in FIGS. 10 and 12. The clip members of these patented devices are solely for the purpose of permitting the connector to be mounted to another device, and do not provide a retaining function for multiple sections of a connector housing.
United Kingdom Patent Application No. 2,167,611A discloses the use of a clip member 51 (FIG. 5) for use in mounting a connector housing to a separate device. Like the Forney, Jr. device and the Dean device discussed earlier, the clip member 51 is not employed to retain separate housing sections in an assembled condition.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,824,524 issued to Glover; 3,903,458, issued to Arnoux and 4,139,727, issued to Kuballa, disclose other arrangements for permitting a connector to be secured to a panel or other device.